Exclusion of 20.000 false farmers from debt cancellation

Algiers- according to the latest information available from the National Farmers Union, it has been proceeded to the exclusion of not less than 20,000 farmers for lack of farmer’s card, from the decision of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika made at the national conference on agriculture held in Biskra February 28, 2009, regarding the cancellation of debts of farmers estimated at 41 billion dinars.

• According to Mohamed Alioui, Secretary General of the National Farmers Union, contacted by telephone yesterday, about 175,000 farmers have filed a case at the Rural Development Bank (BADR), and the National Fund of Agricultural Mutual (CNMA), 155.000 farmers in possession of a farmer’s card, have benefited from the decision of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and had their debts cancelled.
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  On the other hand, not less than 20,000 farmers have been excluded from this measure for non-possession of the famous farmer’s card. According to the UNA, they are nothing but bosses of big industrial companies of seed production and other industrial enterprises which have no relationship with agriculture.
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  The statement by the SG of the National Farmers Union comes to confirm what had been published by Ennahar in a previous edition, on the Minister's meeting with the Finance Director of Treasury and officials of BADR  bank and CNMA and Mohamed Alioui, to whom he deplored the existence of files with the names of people who cannot benefit from the decision of debt cancellation, due to lack of official documents that prove they belong to the agricultural sector and that they were « Beznassia » (false farmers). For its part, Badr Bank has also deplored the existence of records of persons engaged in the private sector,such as investors, and more importantly, these farmers’ cards do not even bear the identity of their owners.
  
  Ennahar/ Habiba Mahmoudi